Rainy Days
by Fiore Di Fenice
Summary: It's raining in Underland, and the Hatter makes an attempt at cheering Alice.


Alice found herself gazing dismally out of the window to the gloom that had overcome Underland's skies. It _would_ rain today, wouldn't it? Today was the day she would have visited Queen Mirana in Marmoreal, but there would be no visiting or tea with the rain pounding against all creatures and objects unlucky enough to be out-of-doors. Alice sighed and turned around in her chair (the one seated conveniently next to Tarrant's, of course) and pouted. She was terribly fond of Mirana, and was so looking forward to seeing her friend again.

Tarrant broke into Alice's reverie about the unfairness of weather by dashing into the sitting room and declaring, "Today, we shall have a holiday!" His eyes were an electric green in his excitement, and his orange mess of hair was ever-so-slightly messier, if such things could be said.

"A holiday!" Alice exclaimed. "Hatter, have you not seen the rain? The clouds shan't allow us to venture from the windmill!"

"Oh, but that's where you're wrong, dear Alice!" came the exuberant reply, from whose speaker was now pulling his companion towards a room near the back of the abode. "Just look and see! Look and see!" Alice was shoved through the doorway into what seemed to be a dark closet.

"What are we doing?" she asked, entirely bemused.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, look and see, wait and look, look and see!" the Hatter sang.

A peculiar humming began, but Alice was unable to pinpoint its source. "What is-"

"Shhh!" He shushed her, placing a finger to her lips. The humming grew louder until it evolved into singing, to which the mad-man began singing along. Alice didn't understand the words and tried to decide what she should be feeling more in this particular situation: amusement or aggravation.

Suddenly, the room seemed to... move. It contracted itself to the point that Alice and the Hatter were squished very close together and the former felt panicked and the latter felt... well, he felt very... he didn't know what he felt at having Alice so close in proximity to him, but he pondered that it wasn't a Bad Feeling, not a Bad Feeling at all. Then the room expanded; Alice could breathe again, and Tarrant felt a tiny twinge of disappointment that the room couldn't have just stayed small.

With the added space, Tarrant decided it was time to start the holiday Alice was promised. He hollered, "Chessur! Turn on the sun!"

"One sun, coming up," came the lazy drawl of the Cat. The room was blindingly bright for a full three seconds, and by the time it dimmed, Alice's eyes needed time to adjust from the previous darkness of the room to the now-sunny... tea party?

Alice turned to her friend. "What is this room?" She fixed her gaze back to the beautiful decorations; if she didn't know any better, she would have thought she was outdoors. But, she mused, nothing in Underland is as it seems. Maybe they really _were_ outside. All she cared for at the moment was the rain was gone, and she could feel the sun warm what skin was not covered by her dress that Tarrant had finished a week ago for just this occasion, unbeknownst to the wearer.

"This," he began with a dramatic voice, "is the Rainy Day Room. It's my favorite room in the entire house." Sweeping his hands out, as if to embrace the whole of it, he went on. "We use this room on the rare days that it rains in our fair Underland. It's always sunny and rearranges itself to accomodate the amount of guests we have! It's quite lovely, if I may say so."

"It _is_ lovely!" exclaimed the blonde, and Tarrant was pleased with her pleasure. He took her by the arm and escorted her to the clean, prepared tea table. Thackery was positively tremoring in his desire to take one, just _one_ teacup, or scone, or _something_, and throw it at Mallymkun, who was smirking as much as a dormouse could by order of Tarrant, who decreed that this tea party would be a Cheer Up Party for Alice. No throwing of _anything_ was to be allowed, much to the hare and the dormouse's chagrin. However, they didn't want to risk the rage of the Mad Hatter, who did indeed live up to his name, especially when angered.

Alice was seated at the head of the table, much to her surprise. "Don't you usually sit at the head?" she asked Tarrant.

"Yes, but this is a very special day for you, Alice. Enjoy it! Enjoy being the head... head, shoulders, knees, toes, toes, toes, toes, toes-"

"Hatter!"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," Tarrant choked out. "Sorry. As I was saying, enjoy being the head of the party!" With this, he removed his hat and gave a low bow to Alice. When he came up again, his eyes were so light, they were almost yellow. The Hatter took his seat to the left of the guest of honor and the tea party began.

All went well, until his third cup of tea, when he heard a tiny _plink_ coming from Mallymkun's side of the table, followed by a rather unsettling _plunk_. "Mally," he called, not taking his gaze from his tea, "may I ask what that noise was?"

"Nothing!" came the dormouse's reply, to which a snicker was heard from Thackery.

Alice placed a calming hand on Tarrant's arm. "It's fine," she smiled. "Let them be."

"Okay," sighed the Hatter. "Now then, I've been thinking about exactly _why_ a raven is like a-"

"Hello, dear Hat," purred an abruptly-appearing Chessur, weaving himself around Tarrant's beloved Hat and kneading his paws into the ribbon.

"Why, hello, Chessur," Alice greeted. "Where have you been?"

"I," drawled the Cat, "have been everywhere Tarrant has ever been, but didn't move from one spot. Can you _guess_," he stretched and curled on top of the Hat, "where?"

Alice thought about the strange riddle. "No," she slowly conceded. "I don't."

"I have been roaming our dear friend's _mind_, his memories, emotions and such. Do you know what I saw there?" the grinning devil asked.

"Off with ye!" shouted Tarrant in a Scottish brogue.

"But Tarrant," Chessur yawned, "I'm _so_ tired. May I have a cat-nap in your hat? A nap would keep my mouth shut, you know."

The Hatter's eyes glowed red and he began to curse in Outlandish and Nonsense in equal turns. Suddenly, he ripped his Hat off of his head and flung Chessur, screeching, into what Alice would guess was the wall of the room. Seeing the Hatter lose his head made the temptation too much for poor, twitching Thackery. The hare grabbed the object nearest him and sent it flying towards Mallymkun, who was too busy watching Tarrant and Chessur to notice in time to dodge the projectile teacup. It shattered against her small body and the pieces lay in the seat of the too-big chair. Not one to miss an opportunity to have a good tea party brawl, she threw two stale lumps of sugar and they both fell in the hare's ears. Shaking his head, he spit them right back at Mallymkun, who ducked and the sugars missed her. Laughing madly, the two began tossing and throwing everything they could get a hold on.

Tarrant was standing at the end of the table, mumbling murderously to himself. "Can't not... get a hold of... told them _not_ to... ruined... ruined... _ruined_..." Breathing heavily, he barely noticed when Alice stood. He took more notice, however, when a handful of cake hit him in the back of the head. The Hatter whirled around to face his assailant, red eyes wide, cake icing plopping on the ground.

Alice laughed at the display, and Tarrant's eyes turned green again. "So," he asked in a childish tone, "is the party ruined?"

"Of course not! I was simply biding my time until those two started being... well, _normal_," she grinned as wide as Chessur did.

"My dear girl, 'normal' is a horrible term here. I would say bonkers, batty. Or simply barmy."

"Barmy is a good word," Alice nodded, then turned thoughtful. "By the way, whatever did Chessur mean when he asked me what he found inside your head?"

"Nothing," mumbled Tarrant, turning red. "Nothing at all."

"I'm sure it isn't," sighed Alice, deciding that she would have to have a talk with the disappearing Cat- if he ever decided to join them again, that is- as soon as possible.

"Have you cheered up?" her friend asked quickly. "This is what this was for, you know."

"Yes, I believe I have, actually. Thank you, Hatter."

Tarrant smiled down at Alice, and the smile, she thought, was _perfectly_ mad.


End file.
